22nd MEU Marines conduct fast-roping exercise in drizzle, darkness

Only 50 vertical feet separated the Marines from their objective – a lone, three-story building shrouded in darkness, haze and drizzle Friday.

THOMAS BRENNAN Daily News Staff

Only 50 vertical feet separated the Marines from their objective – a lone, three-story building shrouded in darkness, haze and drizzle Friday.

“The scariest part is trying to get your feet on the rope,” said Lance Cpl. Travis Langan, 20, of Long Island, N.Y. “There’s nothing really too bad about it ...except for the burn in your hands. ...But the rush is wild – totally worth it.”

A platoon from the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit completed the raid exercise under the watch of Stone Bay’s Special Operations Training Group.

Reaching the stationary target by sliding down swaying ropes from an airborne helicopter – known as fast-roping – requires intensive training.

Marines and sailors use fast-roping as an “insertion” technique from a variety of helicopters during raids, humanitarian operations, non-combatant evacuations, and tactical recoveries of aircraft and troops.

Friday, six waves of Marines were inserted on the target’s roof, relying almost solely on night vision goggles.

“The training has been really good leading up to this point,” said Langan, a rifleman with Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion 6th Marines – the MEU’s infantry element. “The instructors have taught us the proper ways to insert and then transition into clearing the buildings.”

“They taught us really well,” he added.

Different helicopters are used for specific types of insertions and each aircraft requires a different skill set.

“Different helicopters posed different challenges when you are trying to fast rope,” said Lance Cpl. Ian MacLeod, 21, of Pittsburgh, Penn. “Whether you’re going down off the skids or through the hell-hole, you have to be aware of the unique obstacles with each aircraft.”

It’s best to try not to think about the obvious dangers of fast-roping, MacLeod said.

“I have to trust that they have had as good of training as I’ve had and that they’re going to do what they need to do to keep us as safe as possible,” said MacLeod, a team leader with BLT 1/6. “The Marine Corps is compartmentalized. If they do their job, it allows me to do my job. It boils down to trust.”

For one pilot, the first time Marines fast-roped from his helicopter was nerve-racking, said Lt. Chris Cabatu, a MH-60S pilot for the MEU stationed on the USS Bataan in Norfolk, Va.

But he got used to it with time, he said, and hopes Marines trust him.

“The trick with flying is that you just have to be relaxed,” Cabatu said. “It’s a lot of fun though.”

Fun, perhaps, in a potent form.

“I couldn’t imagine doing anything else,” Cabatu said. “You get an adrenaline rush for a second and think that you’re a fighter jet pilot, but then you realize you’re a helicopter pilot.”

His advice to Marines about fast-rope from his helicopter is simple, he said.

“Keep calm and we’ll do our job that way you can do your job,” Cabatu said. “You can trust us – we know what we’re doing.”

The mission alone, however, is not the only challenge with fast-roping, according to Staff Sgt. Joshua Hayes, the lead instructor for the maritime interdiction operations course.

“You’ve got power lines, cables, trees,” said Hayes, 26, of Syracuse, N.Y. “On top of a roof, there might be antennae.”

And then there’s the target’s structural integrity.

“The rotor wash can sometimes collapse a building,” Hayes said. “Things are very carefully planned from the mission to the insertion platform.”

Fast-roping is a unique capability of the Marine Corps; one with applications limited only to the Marine’s mind when deciding how to integrate it into each mission, Hayes said.

“On the MEU they are going to be alone and unafraid,” Hayes said. “There are a plethora of capabilities the MEU has and we don’t want the first time they do something to be when it counts in the real world.”